How can we KNOW for sure that Jesus Christ is coming again, in person, literally? Someone says, "The Bible says so!" But different people interpret the Bible in different ways; many say that the second coming of Christ has been happening all through history in the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and thereafter.
Is the Bible like the proverbial old fiddle on which you can play any tune you like? No; the Bible is a reasonable Book that can be understood by reasonable common sense. Jesus promised, "I will come again" (John 14:3). He promised to come literally and visibly (Matt. 24:23-27). The doctrine of His second coming is taught throughout the New Testament, in harmony and consistency.
Peter says that we are re-living the days that were before the Flood of Noah (2 Peter 3:3-14). The people in Noah's day said that it had never rained as yet, so a flood was impossible, and Noah was a foolish man to build a boat on dry land. What evidence did the Holy Spirit give the people that his message was true during those 120 years of his ministry? There were no physical signs like premature scattered rain showers to convince the unbelieving people; the sky was dry until the final storm came. But there was one deeply convincing evidence that Noah was sent of God: the Holy Spirit gave him an understanding of "righteousness by faith" which he preached (see Heb. 11:7). It was "by faith" that Noah "prepared an ark to the saving of his house" and "condemned the world." God did not condescend to give that "world" any "proof" other than the gospel message which Noah was permitted to understand and preach.
We are tempted to look for miraculous physical evidence of the certainty of Christ's return; again, the message of righteousness by faith is its own self-validation as in Noah's day. None of the unbelieving scientists or evolutionists can account for the miracle of agape-love, this biblical revelation of the character of God in genuine righteousness by faith. God will not blast people out of their self-complacency; you hear His "still small voice" speaking in the message of "the everlasting gospel" which the three angels (and a fourth!) proclaim (Rev. 14:6-15; 18:1-4). The clarity and power of the message are beyond doubt!
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: April 17, 2000.Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.
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